025 Edge of death

The preparation of the meal is a physical activity, although we rest every day, it is still quite difficult to endure the night, so I brought bread and water with me.

Chen Duoyu took six bottles of water from the backpack and placed them in a circle on the ground, then he also put down two packs of bread.

"We won't starve to death, let's eat before hitting the road."

The two brothers brought over the half of Chen Lao'er's body. Chen Lao'er's body had already shown severe lividity, which was quite terrifying.

We replaced wine with water and had a last supper. Chen Lao'er's body was next to me, which made me feel uncomfortable, and I didn't eat anything.

"All right, everyone find a comfortable position and wait for death."

After Chen Duoyu finished speaking, he threw out the bones of Emperor Wen of the Western Wei Dynasty and put Chen Lao'er's body inside.

"Second brother, everything has its order, you go first, this dragon bed of the emperor will be yours, there are two empresses to serve you, it's worth it compared to us brothers."

As he was tinkering, suddenly there was a dull sound of movement.

Zhang Wenjie put on his glasses and immediately sat up straight, looking around vigilantly.

Chen Duoyu turned around and said, "Don't be nervous, it's just the knee hitting the coffin lid."

"Little brother, stop disturbing the second brother, calm down."

I remembered something recorded in the story of "Ten-Thousand Graves and the Lost Trails".

In ancient times, craftsmen, in order to survive, would usually meticulously build a secret passage for escape, and then leave marks inside the tomb. In case of emergencies, they would escape along the secret passage.

Modern archaeologists often take advantage of this, and it never fails.

So, as long as we find this secret passage, we will be saved.

Zhang Wenjie played with "The Destruction of the Gods," sighing deeply.

But I thought of the broken pillow, the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, and the Black Tortoise, the four mythical beasts, which were actually the four directions, often used for dividing land and determining graves.

After analyzing the layout of the mausoleum, a major discovery emerged.

The left and right chambers clearly represent the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger, while the front chamber is the position of the Vermilion Bird, also known as the Bright Hall. The Bright Hall gathers water, but it must have both an entrance and an exit.

It's just that we entered the tomb like a hawk diving, and didn't go to the front chamber.

The exit is at the water level below.

The Chen brothers looked at me with confusion, thinking I was not in the right state of mind.

Bystanders watch the excitement, experts listen to the doorways. Zhang Wenjie suddenly stood up and shouted excitedly, "That's right, why didn't I think of that?"

The problem now is how long it will take to dig to the water level. This concerns everyone's life and death, and everyone's eyes are focused on the Chen brothers.

Chen Lao Da pondered for a moment before saying, "Under normal circumstances, it shouldn't take more than an hour, but since we're now empty-handed, I can't estimate."

Zhang Ling, with a worried expression, asked, "What should we do then?"

I replied, "As long as there's a glimmer of hope, we can't easily give up. How would we know if we don't give it a try?"

Chen Duoyu suddenly sneezed inexplicably, continuously spitting saliva.

"Ugh, ugh, damn it, why is there so much sand?"

As soon as he said that, I felt as if sand had entered my eyes, constantly wanting to rub them. At first, I thought it was due to irritation because hydrogen sulfide gas dissolved in water, causing the eyes to be easily affected.

Looking up, sand kept overflowing from the gaps in the stone slabs on the dome, like a flowing stream.

Zhang Wenjie took a deep breath. "There's a mechanism up there, run!"

Suddenly, with a crash, the mechanism completely opened, and the sand flowed down like the Yellow River, mixed with many bones. From the appearance, the time of death varied, some were ancient, and some were modern, likely from previous tomb robbers.

Between breaths, the mausoleum was filled with flying sand, making it almost impossible to see anything.

Later, Chen Duoyu recalled that when he was clearing the coffin, the floor trembled and made a loud noise. At that time, he didn't think much about it, but it should have triggered the mechanism.

Thinking about it, it was quite precarious. Earlier, the few of us had been tinkering around the coffin for a long time without incident. It was probably because the age was too old, and the triggering device was not sensitive. Truly, may heaven bless us.

"Big brother, take the second brother with you, don't leave him behind."

I stopped in my tracks, turned around, and shouted, "Are you crazy? Hurry up and run!"

Chen Lao Da replied to me, "Little brother is right, we can't abandon the second brother. This is the oath of us brothers, not to give up, not to abandon."

In the midst of the yellow sand, I couldn't see their figures, and my heart was anxious.

After a moment, the two of them reappeared, but I was stunned to see that Chen Lao Da was carrying the upper body, while Chen Duoyu was carrying the two legs. They were covered in sand, resembling monsters, with only their two moist nostrils visible.

"Hurry, let's go."

The sand kept pouring in, inexhaustible like Yang Jian's food bag. In just five or six minutes, the entire main burial chamber was almost filled.

The thief hole collapsed, leaving us with only the small platform as a refuge. Five people were squeezed onto it. Although Chen Lao Er was dead, he was still a person and also needed space. Moreover, he was lying on the ground, taking up even more space.

The space was cramped and extremely crowded.

The sand continued to flow into the tomb. Since the terrain here was relatively low, once the sand intruded, we would truly have no way out, only to be buried alive.

"Take a breather, everyone take turns digging downwards. We're racing against death now."

Zhang Wenjie began to randomly poke the ground with a dagger.

"At this rate, you won't dig to China anytime soon. Get up, let me do it." Chen Duoyu rolled up his sleeves and said.

Indeed, a master's touch was evident. Chen Duoyu took all our daggers and inserted them into the ground with a width of a palm's width between them. Then, he and Chen Lao Da simultaneously moved the four daggers, turning over a large chunk of soil.

Zhang Wenjie said to me, "Guangting, lend a hand. Let's transport the soil up and build a dam at the entrance to block the sand from coming in."

Zhang Ling took off Chen Lao Er's shoes. Since he wouldn't need them anymore, Zhang Ling held a stinky shoe in each hand, tapping the dam in circles to make it more sturdy.

After a few minutes of rest and several shifts, the soil began to moisten, and the ground gradually became sticky, all covered in mud.

"It's almost done, almost there."